With Boy Scouts now ‘Scouts’, Girl Scouts Retain their Identity

The announcement came late last week that the ‘Boy Scouts of America’ officially changed their name to ‘Scouts-BSA’, however the Girl Scouts have retained their ‘girls only’ identity.

Kristi Pettis Osterlund, Marketing and Communications Director for the Girl Scouts of Montana and Wyoming, said the most important takeaway from the announcement last week is that the Girl Scouts will retain their ‘girl only’ organization.

“That has been our experience and identity for over a century,” said Osterlund. “We have the research-backed programming that is specific to the healthy development of girls, so we’re proudly claiming the ‘girl’ in Girl Scouts and we’re keeping that entity. One challenge we face is educating people about the difference between ‘Girl Scouts of the USA, versus the ‘Boy Scouts of America’. 53 percent of school families don’t realize that there is a difference between the two organizations.”

Osterlund said, as a mother of girls, it is vital that they build embrace their identity as girls at a young age.

“Research shows that a girl’s confidence peaks at the age of nine, and I am going to do everything I can to give my daughter a strong foundation and base so that she can rally against those outside and continue to face them as girls and women, and Girl Scouts is there to provide the skills that girls will need to deal with that in the future.”